Elokeshi
1890
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1890
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Elokeshi is a 1890 paint by Unknown, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
A woman in a bright red sari stands against a plain background. Her hands cover her face in shame. The bold colors and quick brushstrokes feel alive. This shows a real 1890s scandal in Calcutta. A preacher’s affair became a public trial. Kalighat painters usually made gods or holy scenes. They turned gossip into art instead. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum next.
This Kalighat painting in watercolour on paper depicts a scene from the 1873 Tarakeshwar Affair, showing Elokeshi offering a betel leaf to the seated Mahant, who holds a huqqa pipe. The priest is portrayed with the refined features of a 19th-century Bengali Babu or English dandy, while Elokeshi is depicted in the manner of a courtesan. The scandal involved a forbidden relationship between Elokeshi, the young wife of a government employee, and the priest of the Tarakeshwar Shiva temple, leading to her murder by her husband. The case became a widely discussed public event in Calcutta during the…
Read the full account in the museum source.
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